Alina Simone delivers half Russian, half English show at Duke Gardens

Alina Simone rolled into the Triangle today straight off a plane from New York to play an early evening set at Duke Gardens. Supported by a guitarist and a drummer, Simone essentially played two sets without a break in-between.

The first set was devoted to songs from her 2008 album Everyone is Crying Out To Me, Beware. Before starting the set, Simone warned the crowd that all the lyrics during the first half of the show would be in Russian. The album is devoted to the music of Russian songwriter and poet Yanka Dyagileva.

Though the crowd presumably could not understand the lyrics, Simone warned the crowd that the lyrics of "My Sadness is Luminous" were not safe for any Russian speaking kids in the crowd (check out the translation of the lyrics here).

Ticket giveaway: Alina Simone at Duke Gardens

Another week, another ticket giveaway! This week it's for a pair of tickets to see onetime Carrboro resident Alina Simone at Duke Gardens next Wednesday, June 24.

To enter, email triangle_music@hotmail.com with the subject line "Alina Simone tickets" no later than 3pm on Monday, June 22. We'll randomly select a winner and notify them Monday afternoon.

You can purchase tickets here or at the door for $10 ($5 Duke employees, free Duke students & children under 12).

Good luck!

Duke's 'Music in the Gardens' series returns with killer shows

Last year's summer concert series at Duke University's Duke Gardens was one of the best parts of the summer. It featured shows by Portastatic, Bowerbirds and Les Savy Fav among others. This year, organizer Aaron Greenwald has stepped things up for the "Music in the Gardens" series booking a slew of great performers including The Rosebuds, Thad Cockrell, The Love Language, Eric Bachmann, Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, Alina Simone, Megafaun and others. Check out the list of performers and dates below.

Tickets for each show will be $10 for the public $5 for Duke employees and free for Duke students and children under 12. Each show is scheduled to start at 7 pm.